GM of New Jersey Posthumously Names Capitol Police Officer an "Honorary Mason"

by Christopher Hodapp

MW Robert V. Monacelli, the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge F&AM of New Jersey, has just issued an edict posthumously proclaiming the late Brian David Sicknick as an "Honorary Mason."

Click to enlarge.

Brian David Sicknick (42) was the District of Columbia Capitol Police officer who died after sustaining injuries during last week's rampage through the US Capitol building. He was bludgeoned in the head with a fire extinguisher as the mob moved through the building, and a criminal investigation is ongoing to find the person responsible. 

According to the edict, Brian was the son of Charles Sicknick and the brother of Craig Sicknick, who are b oth members of Philo Lodge 243 in South River, New Jersey. Posthumously naming a man as an Honorary Mason is extremely rare in the Masonic world, and jurisdictions have different practices, powers and prerogatives that their grand masters may exercise. 

Officer Sicknick was a veteran.  He joined the New Jersey National Guard in 1997 fresh out of high school. He was deployed to Saudi Arabia and Kyrgyzstan during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was honorably discharged in 2003. He joined the Capitol Police Department in 2008.

Brian Sicknick was laid to rest on Monday, and his family has asked that his death not be politicized.

DAR Magazine Features Masonic Building Pictorial

by Christopher Hodapp

The January/February 2021 issue of American Spirit Magazine features a pictorial article about noteworthy Masonic buildings around the U.S. The magazine is a publication of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and has 45,000 subscribers.

Visions of America: Masonic Temples is written by Annelise Jolley. 

From the description:

The influence of the Freemasons predates the formation of the United States. Evidence of their presence persists in the form of Masonic lodges and temples, designed in a wide variety of architectural styles.

How familiar are you with the Masons? Typically portrayed as a secret society full of mystery AND history, the Masons are one of the oldest fraternal societies, and can trace its roots to the medieval ages. Scholars believe that as many as 8 out the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were members, as were George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Winston Churchill, Mozart and even Mark Twain. 

In the Visions of America department in the January/February 2021 issue of American Spirit, we travel through the United States to find historic and notable Mason Temples and Lodges, including King Solomon’s Lodge No. 7 in Woodbury, Conn., The House of the Temple in Washington, D.C., Masons’ Hall in Richmond, Va., and Scottish Rite Cathedral in Indianapolis, Indiana...

The DAR's magazine American Spirit is devoted to the organization's love of American history, preservation and genealogy. Each issue celebrates the uniquely American story through a selection of historical subjects from the Colonial period through the early decades of the new republic. American Spirit regularly features articles about Revolutionary patriots, historic homes, heritage travel, the DAR Museum collection and more.

H/T: Mary Pat Mahan McElhiney

Revived Masonic Book Club Reached Pre-Publication Goal In Just Two Days

by Christopher Hodapp

As reported here last September, the venerable but long defunct Masonic Book Club has recently been re-launched under the auspices of the Scottish Rite Southern Jurisdiction, helmed by S. Brent Morris and Arturo De Hoyos. On December 21st, the MBC announced the pre-publication sale of their first title, The Perfect Ceremonies of Craft Masonry & The Holy Royal Arch.

The Club has no dues and does not offer a subscription. Central to the new business model of the MBC is that books will be announced prior to publication in order to gauge the level of interest among Masonic readers. If an insufficient number of pre-orders are not received within 30 days, the book will be withdrawn and money refunded.

It looks like there's plenty of interested Masons in this endeavor. 

The Perfect Ceremonies of Craft Masonry & The Holy Royal Arch was announced on December 21, and just two days later, they already had enough pre-publication sales to publish. The pre-order window will remain open until 11:59 pm, January 21, 2021. Once the final tally of sales is known, the books will be printed and are expected to ship about March 29, 2021.

The MBC pre-publication price is $25 if ordered before January 21st, 2021 – the book will retail for $35 after that date, all plus shipping and handling. To learn more about the book and to view/download sample pages, visit the MBC web page HERE.

Pre-orders are NOT available through the Scottish Rite online store.

To make a pre-publication purchase for $25 + S&H, follow this link.

Only after all orders are fulfilled, a limited number of additional copies will become available for $35 + S&H via the Scottish Rite online store, https://www.scottishritestore.org/.

A message from the MBC also provided some insight as to what their next selections may be, along with addressing the troubles and costs regarding international sales:

What’s Next?
The response to the MBC has been exceptional. Before we have even delivered our first volume, some are asking, “What’s next?” The plan is to continue the MBC tradition of reprinting classic Masonic books with a scholarly introduction preceding the facsimile and an index following—the “MBC Sandwich.” In the pipeline is a reprint of the 1977 MBC volume, Samuel Prichard’s 1730 Masonry Dissected with an update to Harry Carr’s introduction and commentary. Also in the works is a collection of “burlesque degrees,” silly initiation ceremonies intended to mock the seriousness of fraternal initiations and to amuse the audience.

International Sales

One of the frustrations in relaunching the MBC is handling non-US customers. The US Postal Service has a very favorable “media mail” rate for shipping books within the US. Postage to mail a 2-lb. book to Buffalo, NY, is about $3.20; to mail the book another 150 miles to Toronto is $20+. We have tried to price international postage fairly, neither overcharging our international customers nor subsidizing them.

Sales and shipping to the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) requires personal data to be protected according to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The service we use to process credit card sales does not comply with GDPR, and our number of EU/EEA sales is not enough to warrant changing services. We are trying to find an EU/EEA agent to facilitate sales. Until then, our best suggestion is that EU/EEA customers have their books shipped to an American friend who can reship.

The mission statement of the resurrected Masonic Book Club is to publish classic Masonic works with the goals to increase Masonic knowledge and to become a profit center for the House of the Temple Foundation. If you have any questions or suggestions, please address them to mbc@scottishrite.org.

GM of Wisconsin Statement on Civil Disobedience

MW Kenneth C. Gorgen,
Grand Master of the Grand Lodge F&AM of Wisconsin

by Christopher Hodapp

In the wake of last week's protests in Washington, DC and the deadly rampage through the U.S. Capitol building, the Grand Master of North Carolina issued a statement denouncing the violence and exhorting his members to reject ignorance and intolerance.

Yesterday, MW Kenneth C. Gorgen, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge F&AM of Wisconsin issued his own statement on the events (see the message below). Like the North Carolina message, this one has also caused its share of heated online remarks and arguments.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

My Brothers,
January 6, 2021 was a time for the wheels of our government to begin turning for the four-year ritual acknowledging the will of the people and validating the selection of a leader for our beloved country. This ritual has been a legacy and part of our heritage for over 200 years. Unfortunately, on this day, a group of thugs decided to force themselves into this sacred process and stop these wheels from turning. They attacked the sanctuary which houses a place for our elected leaders to carry on the business of the Country. Regardless of our political persuasion or beliefs, as Citizens of the United States and as just and upright Masons, we should be sickened by the ruthless actions of these criminals.

Our Country is founded on a humble principle that “we the people” are entitled to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. As Masons, we are charged to promote these principles to all people and as the ritual teaches, “…give every man his just due without distinction.” There is much work to do to make sure all people of this Country have an equal share of that dream, but the work of equality under the law and in this case, the peaceful transfer of power must never stop or be interrupted by force.

These criminals have in the past and on January 6th exposed everyone to the rhetoric and actions which promote mistrust, suspicion, discrimination, separation and hatred, which in the end resulted on an assault on the cradle of our government.

Masons who believe in the principles of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth cannot in clear conscience belong to any organization that teaches hate and supremacy of one person over another because of color, nationality, and religious beliefs. These organizations are in direct conflict with what we as Masons hold dear. It cannot be possible to hold membership in one of these subversive organizations and still be a Mason.

You were first prepared to be a Mason in your heart. I cannot condone one of our Masonic Brothers maintaining a membership in one of these organizations. If you hold a membership in one of these organizations, I encourage you to hold fast to your Masonic teachings and resign from that group. Otherwise, I will gladly accept your resignation from the Masonic Fraternity.

Sincerely and Fraternally,

Kenneth Gorgen
Grand Master of Masons in Wisconsin

 

Has He The Pass?

by Christopher Hodapp

I'm not sure if this is a cool doorknob for a lodge room, or just disturbing. Whichever, it's $34.95 from the Friendyness.com website.

Description claims it's handmade, which goes without saying.

North Carolina GM Issues Statement Over Capitol Riot

Getty images

by Christopher Hodapp

The miserable year of 2020 has now officially slipped into history, but it wasn't going to just go quietly without putting up a desperate struggle. On January 6th, tens (and perhaps hundreds) of thousands of supporters of Present Donald Trump assembled on the Ellipse in Washington DC in protest over the results of the November 2020 election. At the other end of the Mall inside the U.S.Capitol, the House of Representatives and the Senate were in the process of debating and formally certifying the Electoral College results of the presidential race.

Before the president's speech to his supporters ended, a large mob of people broke off, made their way to the Capitol, and stormed into the building. The unprecedented rampage that ensued (and covered in real time on television and the Internet) left five people dead, including a Capitol police officer who was struck in the head with a fire extinguisher, and one of the protesters, a 35-year old female Air Force veteran who was shot by an officer. Three others died from apparent medical emergencies. Members of Congress were hustled to an undisclosed 'secure location' as tear gas was used against the mob.

As with most riots and mass rampages, an adolescent glee for breaking things and invading symbolic seats of authority figures for the sake of selfies and high-fives from fellow mob members fanned the flames of frenzy. Knocking down symbols of power for the sheer fun of it is a common hallmark of massive mob protests, and this one was no exception. As more details became available, some of the participants posing for the cameras and egging on the crowd turned out to be known anarchic provocateurs seen at other riots and violent protests from earlier in the year. But the majority of the crowd that slowly moved into the rotunda and then on to the House and Senate chambers seemed more like several hundred dogs who had suddenly caught the UPS truck they had been chasing without a clue of what to do with it now.

It was not America's finest hour, and it's almost impossible to know how history will regard this event and the last year after all the dust clears and time softens the heated passions of the moment.

In the wake of this shocking (but probably inevitable) event, social media erupted as millions took sides over what was unfolding. The toxic political atmosphere of the last four years had finally taken its toll, as 50% of the country declared that the other 50% were their mortal enemy, and vice versa. And since the Internet, Twitter and Facebook have become the 21st century battlefields, there were Masons to be found on both sides of the political divide acting less than Masonically to each other. 

R. David Walker, Jr., Grand Master
Grand Lodge AF&AM of North Carolina

On Friday, January 8th, MW R. David Walker, Jr., Grand Master of the Grand Lodge AF&AM of North Carolina, issued a statement to the Brethren in his jurisdiction concerning Wednesday's events. The statement was circulated on the North Carolina grand lodge website and Facebook pages (click image to enlarge).

(To answer a question posed by many over the last few days, North Carolina also weighed in last summer with a joint statement with the MW Prince Hall GL of NC concerning the riots following the death of George Floyd. See it HERE.)

The condemnation of a mob attack on the very center of American democracy should scarcely be a controversial message. But almost as soon as the statement was publicly posted, an avalanche of positive and negative online reactions ensued. The message was greeted in several Masonic Facebook groups with appalling accusations, insults and reactions between Brethren, so much so that moderators shut down many of the discussions completely or removed entire conversations. The political vitriol that has become so commonplace in the profane world was on full display throughout the virtual Masonic community as well. 

The result is that I have now seen scores of Masons announce their intention to leave the fraternity, or at least reconsider their membership over it. Worse, the public can easily find these toxic exchanges, which only serves to smear Freemasonry as an institution that doesn't practice what it preaches.

It has been a cornerstone of Freemasonry since its official beginnings to prohibit the discussion of religion and politics within the confines of our tiled meetings because of the potential for heated divisions among our members. The online battles that have raged over the North Carolina statement are a clear demonstration of why that rule is necessary. Since the various riots and demonstrations around the country that began in summer of 2020, there have been no instances of Freemasons actually engaging in or organizing them AS MASONS. It's arguable that grand lodges issuing messages of support, solidarity or condemnation of political demonstrations and social uprisings have as much effect as Starbucks Coffee, Macy's, or the My Pillow company weighing in on political positions: regardless of the stance taken, the practical result is to needlessly conflict with a substantial proportion of existing customers (or members, in our case).

Grand lodges all over the country have been wrestling with adopting online social media rules of conduct over the last few years. Some have been minimal, common sense recommendations, but others have been needlessly detailed, draconian and picayune. The breakdown of social norms and the loss of what used to be called the 'civic virtues' that the Founders recognized as being the only way a democratic republic could endure have helped bring us to this gloomy moment in time. Historically, Freemasonry was deliberately encouraged to expand across America after our Revolution specifically to teach a rough, disparate and illiterate public how to get along with each other - to disagree without being disagreeable, and to unite men for the common good "among whom no contention should ever exist but that noble contention, or rather emulation, of who best can work, and best agree." Religion, politics, social and economic status, level of education - none of these were supposed to matter in the sanctuary of the lodge room or between Brethren in daily life, and those frontier Masons learned to sit side by side with men diametrically opposed to their own opinions.

 

It's probably irrational to believe that Freemasonry as a philosophy can successfully calm and subdue the passions of all of her members during this time of upheaval and 24-hour rage-making stoked by opportunistic activists, basement revolutionaries, keyboard warriors, politicians and media figures. Enforced isolation from the COVID shutdowns has prevented us from meeting face to face, Brother to Brother, for nine months now. But it certainly has no possible hope of succeeding with Masons who would rather quit than learn to coexist with their Brethren over politics. The COVID aftermath will certainly exact a dramatic toll on the fraternity from Masons who decide to drop their membership out of ennui caused by the shutdowns. Let's all hope that political strife and disagreements between Masons over transitory elections don't do even worse.

Greetings From the Road: the Sequel

Stopped in Arizona

by Christopher Hodapp

Deepest apologies for the dearth of Masonic postings since Christmas. After the mishaps that forced us to return home before the holiday, we set out again for California and actually made it this time. 

We're currently parked in Orange County in a campground planted thick with orange trees that are burgeoning with swollen fruit. The poodle is mesmerized by them - she stares up and thinks they are actually filled with ripened tennis balls desperately in need of being chased.

UPDATED: Christmas Fire Burns Prince Hall GL of Rhode Island Masonic Temple

Photo: WLNE

by Christopher Hodapp

(This story has been updated on January 2, 2021.)

Fire broke out early Christmas morning at the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Rhode Island's headquarters in Providence. According to news reports, the fire started in the basement of the building and spread quickly throughout the structure, whipped by strong winds. The three-alarm fire was described by the local public safety commissioner as "stubborn," and some 59 firefighters were eventually called to the scene to battle the blaze.

No one is known to have been in the building, and there are no reported injuries. Preliminary judgement by local fire officials is that the building will likely be a total loss. 

Google

The Masonic hall at 883 Eddy Street in Providence is also the home of Celestial Lodge No. 2 PHA. It had been crowded with people on Thursday for the lodge's annual Christmas toy drive. 

The MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge F&AM of Rhode Island has been located on Eddy Street since its very beginnings in 1858.

UPDATE:

WB Richard Lynch, the Curator and Librarian for the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island F&AM passed along additional photographs of the damage to the building after the fire. 

His message read, in part:

"Our Grand Master M:.W:.Gary Kaufman has been in contact with M:.W:.Clarence Snead of Prince Hall and the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island has offered our building and our Scottish Rite Temple to the use of the brothers of Prince Hall. We will also be supporting them financially in their time of need."

On Thursday, December 31st, a story on the WJAR TV-10 website announced that the Prince Hall Masons are accepting donations to rebuild:

"The fires in our community continue to burn, and without Prince Hall Masonry here in the south side of Providence, we may not be able to address some of those issues that we've been addressing over the years," Bennett said.

The lodge was used for charity purposes like toy, clothing and food drives, community events and special meetings.

"It's not just about the 120 Masons we have here today. It's about the thousands of members that we had over the last hundred years," Bennett said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and officials with the Prince Hall Masons say they're hopeful the fire was an accident.

Donations can be sent to the Prince Hall Capital Campaign Fund, P.O. Box 27900, Providence, RI 02907 or made through GoFundMe.

 

Merry Christmas

Back between 2005 and 2008, I was asked to contribute to my brother-in-law's monthly Texas organic gardening magazine, Living Natural First. As I protested at the time,  I didn't know the first dang thing about organic gardening, which was just fine with Bobby. He wanted some lighter relief from the rest of the magazine's monthly dose of compost, leaf mold remedies, and the gardener's astrology chart. The result was an ongoing column entitled Pilgrim's Progress: Rustic Tales of an Organic Greenhorn. The Pilgrim columns generally followed the fictional story of a couple who move to the country from the city – he was an urban creature who couldn't tell which end of a hammer to use to properly twist a screw into a wall, while she was a child of the 60s, completely enthralled with living her utopian vision of an environmentally healthy lifestyle on pennies a month. Together they fought the battle of garden slugs, home improvement, industrial tool rentals and marauding rodents.

After two years or so, I had tried to back out of the column, which apparently resulted in an insurrection from a group of Baptist church ladies in Wichita Falls who gathered every month specifically to read the monthly Pilgrim story aloud to each other. They telephoned Bob to say that if I didn't come up with a Christmas story that year, my eternal soul was at risk of being negatively testified against at Peter's Gate by these otherwise kind and compassionate ladies. The result of their threats is presented below, in lieu of any actual Masonic items.

A very Merry Christmas to all.

---

A Pilgrim Christmas Tree

My father is not a cheapskate. Let’s just get that clear right up front, before my significant helpmate shouts, “He is too!” from the next room. My father is a child of the Great Depression, when that hearty stock of gritty survivalists baked their own bread made from dirt they dug from the back yard, walked 28 miles to school every day uphill, both ways, and gave birth to their children in mangers because there was no room in the inn. Er, wait … I think I’m mixing up my stories here.

My father inculcated in the child that sprung from his parsimonious loins a healthy admiration for frugality, placed in a delicate cosmic balance with the sentimental, resulting in what I like to think of as a proper state of mind when it comes to arguments over spending too much money at Christmastime. Over the years, I have neatly ducked the undoubtedly environmentally sound protestations of my bride who has suggested the purchase of a prefabricated Christmas tree every holiday season since we were first tethered together in connubial bliss. The first hints usually begin long about August.

“Hey look,” she’ll hey from a corner of the living room, “I’m still picking up pine needles from last year.” 

I myself regard this as the gift that keeps on giving the whole year through, a gentle reminder of the Christmas spirit, even in the scorching, humid heat of the summer doldrums.

“Uh-huh,” she’ll respond. “I remember now. The vacuum cleaner clogged and tore a belt on all those needles when I was cleaning up after your tree last year.” 

I generally respond to this assault on my coniferous preferences by blurting out a bar of O’ Tannenbaum. I prefer the German lyrics. It gives my retort the proper sense of “I’m not buying a plastic tree, and this is final,” in a way that only the guttural consonants of the German language can really communicate:

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum,
Dein Kleid will mich was lehren:
Die Hoffnung und Beständigkeit
Gibt Mut und Kraft zu jeder Zeit!

It’s the sort of heartwarming lyric I can imagine Erwin Rommel barking at his wife when she suggested an artificial tree to him, as he was headed out the door to Libya to go command the Afrika Korps.

Long about September, she’ll take the opportunity to wander past my desk and casually make an offhand remark about how the average acre of uncut pines and firs generates enough oxygen every day to keep 18 people breathing, or that 21 million trees were mercilessly hacked down in the prime of life last year, and that if every American man was as shamelessly pigheaded about Christmas trees as me, 446,996 acres of trees would be whacked down. At 18 people’s daily oxygen, per acre, I’d be personally responsible for suffocating 8,045,928 of my fellow citizens. Of course, if that includes the lady who cut in line in front of me at the grocery with 215 items in the ‘12 or Less’ lane, armed with a suitcase filled with expired coupons, that would be okay by me.

Come November, there’s no avoiding the artificial tree display at the Hardware Hut, where all of these wire and plastic mockeries of the yuletide season stand, like some arboreal firing squad. “A snap to put up in less than five minutes!” they coo. “No mess, no fuss!” they taunt. “Look! I’m even pre-lit!” teases the latest phony fir, as its fake fronds beckon the holiday shopper, appealing to his weakening resolve with a can of evergreen-scented air freshener, included at no extra charge. Like some scantily-clad temptress, whispering in his ear, they display their tainted wares and attempt to seduce him. “Take me to your house, honey. I look like the real thing. No one will ever know. I’ll even make it easy on you when you’re tired of me after New Year’s Eve. You can pack me up when you’ve finished with me, and put me away, and not even think of me till next year. Because I’ll wait for you, baby.”

No dice. I’m not buying. Which brings me back to the recombinant cheapskate gene I allegedly inherited from my father. Because, you see, not only am I not buying an artificial tree made by Chinese prisoners in a “re-indoctrination” camp, I’m not buying a real one either. No $200 tree in a box for me, but also no pre-cut, dried out, sap-oozing, needle-dropping, $99 refugee from a Michigan tree farm for me, either.

My parents divorced early in my life and have been remarried several times between them, which means my extremely complex family relations resemble more of a merger than a standard familial bond. It’s more like the close, personal relationships one develops with fellow passengers during a bus plunge. So the strange mélange of holiday traditions that have been passed, re-passed, co-mingled and co-opted by the various offspring that make up my siblings, half-siblings and step-siblings have allowed all of us to cherrypick the ones we like best and force them upon our own families. And the one that I consider sacrosanct is the annual chopping down of a free-range Christmas tree – the word “free” being the operative term.

My father has never in his 87 years of life paid for a Christmas tree, and he taught me all of the tricks of the trade. Overwhelmingly, his preferred manner of tree shopping involved long afternoon drives in the country searching for just the right combination of isolated location and questionable property ownership, returning as dusk fell to quickly chop down his prize. Over the years, we had a wild variety of trees – the standard pines, firs and spruces, and the not-so-standard hemlocks, cedars, cypresses, and arborvitaes. Some were downright dangerous to the touch, with the same sort of prickly nature as a cactus plant, which made the hanging of lights and ornaments a hazardous occupation. And true, there was the occasional bird or rodent that rode into the living room, buried deep within the tree’s hidden recesses. Some of my fondest memories were of Dad, heady with the scent of the hunt and emboldened by a couple of tankards of spiked nog, chasing a startled starling around the house, frantically batting at it with a broken pool cue stick. The holiday tradition was what really mattered, and it added a sense of wild adventure to our celebrations that other less adventuresome, retail-enslaved families missed. 

“And the price was right,” Dad would always say, cheerfully.

Obviously, as he got older and we moved to more densely populated urban areas, this became a more challenging activity. After all, the local bank branch or office park looked with prejudicial disfavor at the destruction of their expensive landscaping for the sake of one gritty, Depression-era gentleman’s ideas about Christmas celebration. And honestly, I thought it was a little over the top to call me wanting bail money that first year in the city. Especially during the busy holiday shopping season.

Technology has come to the aid of the modern Christmas tree shopper in the form of the Whack & Heckler 18-volt rechargeable, cordless chainsaw – a tiny titan of the tool world that makes quick work of surreptitious Nöel deforestation, especially in the gathering gloaming of December’s early sunsets. This year, I was especially happy with my choice – a six foot evergreen of some sort or other, discovered down a ravine far from civilization – because it sported what appeared in the bitter cold dusk to be tiny, baby-sized pine cones. I quickly channeled my inner Paul Bunyan, felled it, dragged it up the hill like a vanquished prize of war, lashed it to the roof of the car, and drove homeward.

Once I had mounted it in its stand in our living room, my sweetling was less than impressed. “It’s shaped funny,” she noted, “and it isn’t even green.” True, I had to admit that, once in the tungsten glow of our home, it did indeed look more brownish than greenish.

“Yes, but the price was right,” I quoted Dad. Somehow I didn’t think this impressed her.

“One of these days you’re gonna get arrested doing this. Or shot by somebody who catches you and your little George Washington hatchet trespassing on their property.”

“Oh come on,” I offered, “it’s Christmas. Look at the little baby-sized pine cones. I picked it out special. Have some nog.”

She soon warmed to the combination of the season and the pioneer spirit of adventure. Well, she at least warmed up enough that she soon helped me decorate the new tree. We strung the lights and hung our delicate ornaments. Against my own personal artistic judgment, I even let her heave great wads of shiny aluminum tinsel all over it – her own family’s favorite (if somewhat ghastly) decorating tradition. Frankly, I had to admit that the strands of shredded chrome helped to hide the brown looking branches. But we did take extra care to put lights close to the baby-sized pine cones to highlight their natural beauty.

Two nights later I was standing in the garage, on the other side of two closed doors, when I heard a shriek she usually reserves for finding Plymouth-sized spiders in the shower, or raccoons in the refrigerator again. I ran in to find her standing across the living room, pointing in horror at the Christmas tree.

“Your pine cones,” she hissed, with a combination of revulsion and rather pointed blame. “They’re moving!”

Sure enough, upon close examination, the pine cones were convulsing and bulging, with the unquestionable activity of something inside trying to escape. Into our living room. It seems that my baby-sized pine cones were, in fact, a rather active infestation of bagworms. Warmed by our central heating system and the close proximity of Christmas lights, the caterpillars inside of the cone-shaped brown sacks had thawed out and were now seeking to relocate. One had fallen to the floor, and the dachshund had already sailed triumphantly down the hallway with it held aloft like a trophy.

There was only one thing to do. I opened up the sliding glass door to the patio, picked up the tree, and heaved it out into the yard as far as I could in one hurl. A beaten man, I pulled on my coat, went out into the cold, retrieved the stand and the ornaments, and then dragged the fallen symbol of my pioneer spirit to the back of the yard where the caterpillars could refreeze in peace. 

I would later bone up on bagworms, and discover that I would have to pull all of the bags from the tree and burn them, since they were filled with eggs laid by the female worms, and would only go on to infest the evergreens in our yard next year. Since the tree was already chopped down anyway, up the whole thing would eventually go in a blaze to its Tannenbaum Valhalla.

Some traditions fade away, while others die a much quicker death. My holiday tradition took just long enough for a drive to the Hardware Hut to be smothered completely. I now sit puffing my pipe and sipping my nog, looking at a wire and plastic thing masquerading as a tree. It did just take five minutes to set up, with no fuss, and no risk of arrest for criminal trespassing. If I squint a bit and sit across the room with the room's lights turned down low, it looks just like the real thing. The evergreen-scented air freshener completes the illusion. And there will be no pine needles to clog up the vacuum, and certainly no bagworms to evict. I can pack it up the day after New Years, and no one will ever know. 

But it’s just not the same.

Revived Masonic Book Club Announces First New Volume

by Christopher Hodapp

Back in September, it was announced that the Masonic Book Club, which went defunct in 2010, was being resurrected under new management by Brent Morris and the Scottish Rite Southern Jurisdiction. 

Today it was announced that the first volume of the newly reactivated Masonic Book Club is now ready for pre-publication purchase: The Perfect Ceremonies of Craft Masonry and the Holy Royal Arch. The 392-page hardback book will include marbled covers, a satin ribbon, and rubricated title pages. The Perfect Ceremonies of Craft Masonry and the Holy Royal Arch was published in 1871 and the rituals are considered the lineal ancestors of the official Emulation ritual and lectures used in the United Grand Lodge of England today. 

When the two rival grand lodges at work in England (Antients and Moderns) decided to bury the hatchet and merge to become the United Grand Lodge of England in December of 1813, their separate rituals had diverged over the previous century. A Lodge of Reconciliation was named and spent the next two years developing a combined ritual that would be acceptable to both sides. They didn't demand that all lodges knuckle under to some new 'authorized ritual.' Instead, they developed a ritual that contained what they felt were the essential aspects of the Masonic degrees and openings and closings. Lodges were permitted to include their local variations in their ritual work, as long as they contained the essentials laid down by the Lodge of Reconciliation in its final versions approved by the UGLE in 1816.

In 1823, the Emulation Lodge of Improvement was formed by a group of skilled ritualists from both the former Antients and Moderns grand lodges, who were also well versed in the newly adopted ritual being promulgated by the UGLE's official Grand Steward's Lodge system. Their members were some of the most respected ritualists in England, and their goal was to was to instruct the letter-perfect ceremonies through lectures and demonstration. 

To this day, the Emulation Lodge of Improvement is the respected authority for approving skilled Preceptors for UGLE's lodges of instruction throughout its jurisdiction.

This new Masonic Book Club edition of The Perfect Ceremonies of Craft Masonry and the Holy Royal Arch picks up numerically from when the original MBC was dissolved several years ago - this book will officially be Volume 42. 

Your must order the book from the MBC website HERE.

The MBC pre-publication price is $25 if ordered before January 21st, 2021 – the book will retail for $35 after that date, all plus shipping and handling.

Here are the important details from their announcement today:

• The pre-publication window will be open from December 21, 2020 until January 21, 2021, at 11:59 p.m. The MBC pre-publication price is $25, and the book will retail for $35, all plus shipping and handling.
• We only will accept pre-orders placed using the MBC pre-order online form. Pre-orders are not available through the Scottish Rite store.
• If there are enough pre-publication sales, MBC members will be notified, the book will be printed, and volumes will ship about March 29, 2021.
• Your credit card will be charged immediately; if there are not enough pre-publication sales, refunds will be credited on or about January 28, 2021.

If you have any questions, please visit the "FAQs" section on our MBC web page or email us at mbc@scottishrite.org.

We sincerely apologize, **but due to GDPR complications, we can neither accept credit card charges from nor ship to the EU/EEA, at this time**. If this situation applies to you, we suggest that you have a friend outside of the EU/EEA order and receive the book for you.

One other note from the ordering site. As long as there are sufficient pre-orders for the announced book, it is expected to ship at the end of March 2021. If there are insufficient orders, your money will be refunded.

R.I.P.: Ishmael D. Ison, Sr., Past Grand Master of Indiana

by Christopher Hodapp

Indiana Past Grand Master Ishmael D. Ison, Sr. passed away in his sleep on December 17, 2020, at the age of 81. 

Most Worshipful Ison served the Freemasons of the State of Indiana between 1999 and 2000 as its 149th Grand Master. MWB 'Ish,' as he was known locally, became Grand Master just a month and a half after I was raised as a Master Mason. During that time, he commissioned an Indiana Masonic Flag which is now proudly displayed in almost all Indiana Lodges and at many homes. The flag was designed during a contest by Brothers H. Keith Wilson, Monroe No. 22 and S.W. Douglas B. Green, Kane No. 183.

In honor of our departed Past Grand Master Ishmael D. Ison, Indiana Grand Master Kenneth Roy, Jr. has directed all Lodges in Indiana to drape the Indiana Masonic Flag with a Black Ribbon for a period of 30 days.

Please keep his wife MaryJo and the family in your prayers.

* * *

From the 1999 Annual Proceedings of the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana:

Ishmael D. Ison, Sr., the one hundred forty-ninth Grand Master [of Indiana], was born in Kentucky on September 8, 1939. He is the second son in a family of four children of the late Brother Elzie and Gertrude Ison. The Ison family moved to the Calumet region of Indiana while Brother Ison was quite young. After graduating from Washington High School, Brother Ison continued his education at Purdue University and Indiana University. 

On August 19, 1961, Brother Ison married his high school sweetheart, Mary Jo Hauer. Brother Ison and Mary Jo reside in Crown Point, Indiana. They have been blessed with two children: a son, Ishmael, Jr., and a daughter, Dorothy. Ish, Jr., and his wife, Linda, reside in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. Dorothy and her husband, Jeff Grisham, reside in Schererville, Indiana, with their two daughters, Samantha and Lauren.

Brother Ison started his career with Inland Steel Company while still in high school. On March 4, 1958, he enlisted into the Marine Corps and was honorably discharged in 1961. He then rejoined Inland Steel Company from which he retired as a Project Engineer in 1996. Currently Brother Ison is employed as a consultant for Alcoa Aluminum in Lafayette.

Brother Ison was raised in Indiana Harbor Lodge No. 686 in 1961. Later he transferred to Griffith Lodge No. 735 and served as Master in 1990. He served that Lodge four years as president of the Griffith Low Twelve Club. Brother Ison and Mary Jo are also members of the Griffith Chapter No. 583, Order of Eastern Star.

Brother Ison enjoyed many years of Masonic activity with his father and uncles. In 1962, he served a term as Associate Guardian of Indiana Harbor Bethel No. 69, International Order of Job's Daughters. He again served as Associate Guardian for three years in Griffith Bethel No. 96. Brother Ison served the Indiana Grand Guardian Council, International Order of Job's Daughters, as Grand Chaplain in 1985-1986.

In 1973, Brother Ison joined the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Valley of South Bend. The Supreme Council, A.A.S.R., Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, honored him with the 33rd Degree in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1997.

In 1981, Brother Ison joined Orak Temple, A.A.O.N.M.S., of which he has served as the Masonic Relation's Officer, DeMolay Coordinator, and also enjoyed serving on the Special Party committee with his wife. He is a member of the Hobart Shrine Club, Royal Order of Jesters and Past Masters' Unit. Brother Ison is also a member of the Arab Patrol in which he served as Secretary/Treasurer.

Brother Ison is a proud recipient of the DeMolay Legion of Honor.

In 1992, Brother Ison was exalted, greeted and knighted in the York Rite. He is a Past High Priest of East Chicago Chapter No. 141, Royal Arch Masons; Deputy Master of East Chicago Council No. 101, Cryptic Masons; and Past Commander of East Chicago Commandery No. 58, Knights Templar. Brother Ison served the Grand Commandery, K.T., as Grand Photographer in 1993-1994. Brother Ison was honored by the Grand Commandery with the Distinguished Service Award in 1994.

Brother Ison is a Past Sovereign Master of David R. Ford Council No. 338, Allied Masonic Degrees. He is also a member of the Merrillville Preceptory No. 1, Yeoman of York; Northwest Indiana York Rite College No. 73; Royal Order of Scotland; and the Tall Cedars of Lebanon. Brother Ison is an officer in Saint Basil Conclave, Red Cross of Constantine in Lafayette, Indiana.

Since 1995, he has served as Grand Representative of Indiana near the Grand Lodge of New Jersey.

Brother Ison has enjoyed such hobbies as boating, fishing, hunting, golfing and gunsmithing that he intends to return to at a later date.

In 1994, Most Worshipful Brother Michael D. Brumback, Grand Master, appointed Brother Ison Grand Steward and Tyler. During that same year, he was advanced to the office of Junior Grand Deacon. He regularly advanced in the officer's line and on Wednesday, May 19, 1999, was invested with the purple of the Fraternity as the one hundred forty-ninth Grand Master of Masons in the State of Indiana.

*  *  *

Funeral arrangements:

Hillside Funeral Home
8941 Kleinman Rd
Highland, IN 46322 

The visitation for Past Grand Master Ison will be from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Monday December 21st . The Masonic Service will take place at 6:00 p.m. that evening.

The Hillside Funeral Home is currently not placing any limits on attendance provided everyone is following all PPE and social distancing guidelines. You will be required to wear a mask while inside the Funeral Home. If you plan to attend and not participate in the Masonic Service, please pay your respects, exit the building so others may do the same in a safe manner.

The funeral service and internment on Tuesday December 22nd will be a family-only private service.

His column is broken, and his brethren mourn.

Requiescat in pace.

R.I.P.: Illus. Deary Vaughn, Sovereign Grand Commander of Prince Hall AASR-SJ

by Christopher Hodapp

The Secretary-General of the Southern Jurisdiction of the United Supreme Council, 33° of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Prince Hall Affiliation, has officially announced the death this morning of their longtime Sovereign Grand Commander, Illus. Deary Vaughn, 33°. 

Click to enlarge

From: The Office of the Secretary-General, H∴E∴, Ill∴ Marvin D. Chambers, 33°

To: Supreme Council Officers, Actives and Emeriti, Grand Inspectors General, Sublime Princes, Loyal Ladies and Staff

It has come to my attention that the Grim Reaper has again invaded our ranks, removing from us our beloved Sovereign Grand Commander.
It is with great sadness that I officially notify you of the passing of Illustrious Dr. Deary Vaughn, 33°, Sovereign Grand Commander, on Tuesday, December 15, 2020.

Illustrious Vaughn served the United Supreme Council, 33° of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Prince Hall Affiliation, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America faithfully as Sovereign Grand Commander from 2003 until his demise.

Information about Home Going Services will be provided at a later time.

Please pray for the Vaughn family during their hour of bereavement. Sovereign Grand Commander Vaughn now resides in that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. He will certainly be missed from our ranks.

May God rest his precious soul.

The four U.S. jurisdictions of the Scottish Rite have enjoyed mutual recognition for many years. In May 2009, the Supreme Council of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite - Southern Jurisdiction held its biennial session in Washington, D.C. For the first time in history, both the Northern and Southern Supreme Councils of the Prince Hall Affiliation jurisdictions of the Scottish Rite were represented at that session. 

Special recognition was given that day to SGC Deary Vaughn, 33°, United Supreme Council, Southern Jurisdiction, USA, Prince Hall Affiliation, and SGC Solomon Wallace, 33°, United Supreme Council, Northern Jurisdiction, USA, Prince Hall Affiliation. 

Supreme Grand Commander Ron Seale presented Grand Commanders Vaughn and Wallace with their credentials and jewels as Emeriti Members of Honor of the Mother Supreme Council. They were joined in this photo by John Wm. McNaughton, 33°, SGC of the AASR-Northern Masonic Jurisdiction.

Since its foundation in 1881, the United Supreme Council PHA, SJ has had just seven Sovereign Grand Commanders. Illus. Deary Vaughn has served as their SGC of for seventeen years. He also served as Grand Master of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Oklahoma for thirty years, from 1987-2017.

His column is broken, and his Brethren mourn.

Requiescat in pace.

Note: In 1966, the Scottish Rite PHA was divided into two jurisdictions, roughly using the Mason-Dixon Line as the dividing boundary. The Southern Jurisdiction for the United Supreme Council, PHA, consists of the states: AL, AR, AZ, CA, FL, GA, HI, KT, LA, MD, MS, MO, NC, NM, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV, the District of Columbia, and Virgin Islands. The Northern Jurisdiction PHA consists of: AK, CO, CT, DE, HI, ID, IL, IN, IO, KA, ME, MA, MI, MI, MT, NE, NH, NJ, NY, ND, OH, OR, PA, RI, SD, UT, VT, WA, and WI.

 

Robert G. Davis Elected as Grand Master of Oklahoma Last Month

by Christopher Hodapp

Nobody tells me anything anymore. I have to pick things up in the street from the rough kids these days.

My belated congratulations to my friend and Brother, MW Robert G. Davis who was elected in November as the 2021 Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Oklahoma AF&AM. 

I wouldn't have known had it not been for Masonic Revival announcing their creation of a special bow tie for the occasion.

If you have ever heard him speak or read his books and other writings, you know that MWB Davis is one of the most thoughtful and perceptive Masons alive today. In his message on the Grand Lodge of Oklahoma's home page this month, he describes the nature of fraternalism and why Freemasonry remains vital to men today:

"The word Freemasonry itself derived from the word, “freehearted,” which means “acting on the spontaneous impulse of the heart.” Freemasonry is the state or quality of being fraternal. In all that we do, our first charge is to take on the characteristics of being brotherly, and enhancing the ideals in brotherly relationships.

"We are, above everything else, concerned with the welfare of each other. One of the quintessential purposes of fraternalism is that we aid, support and protect each other. We are our own brother’s keeper. This is the foundation that distinguishes us from all other groups. We enjoy a level of fellowship that we simply don’t find in our other outside relationships. Indeed, our fraternal association must stand out as one of the most blessed influences in our life.

"Even if the deepest esoteric meanings of Masonry are not fully understood to us, at least every one of us can grasp the idea that Masonry is a fellowship that brings men together for the purpose of teaching them how to honor and love one another. If we spend any time at all in participating in the functions of our lodge, or reading of the nature of Masonry, we intuitively learn that, above race, rank, and creed, there is only one heart in the world, and brotherly love is the way to it. No one can estimate the worth of such a way of life; but that is the life of our fraternity.

"In conversations as friends, we explore the meaning of social experience, and through the teachings of our fraternity, we are communicating what integrity means. Our role playing in life is done on a very personal basis—man to man, brother to brother, elder to initiate, equal to equal. Our differentiations of rank ultimately fall away because we recognize the bonds forged by our rituals and obligations as concepts of honor and equality.

"Such is Masonry; a vast, global fraternity of free men, built upon a basis of spiritual faith, whose mission it is to make men friends, to refine and exalt their lives, to turn them into a homage for truth, righteousness, and character. Our task, and the beauty of our art, is to form a society of good men who uphold the redeeming ideals of humanity so as to make good things better by our very presence.

"My brothers, we come together as friends. It is friendship that bonds us, and it is friendship that compels us each to do our part to keep alive what we believe in. And what we believe in more than anything else is our self-improvement. After all, we are initiated men.

"So, as we begin another year together as fraternal men, let us always remember that we are living at the side of the road to be a friend of man. And our path happens to be our journey through the progressive instruction our fraternity offers us. It is this journey that compels us to improve ourselves as men; to learn what integrity looks like; to know that honor is earned by how others see us; and to recognize we have duties to go to the aid of those who need our help; to be of service to others.

"In the journey of our degrees and the regular enactments of our ceremonies and rituals, in the processionals and regalia of our titled men, in the private conversations as brothers where knowledge is shared and wisdom passed along, we are creating and re-creating the meaning and purpose of our lives. In this honored and eccentric engagement, we are acting out in the presence of each other the roles we believe necessary to life itself.

"And, above all; and, more especially, we should be eternally grateful that we know how to express our love for each other. After all, 'we have one aim; to please each other and unite in the grand design of being happy and communicating happiness.'

"Let us, with every breath of our being, be about the business of being good men in our great and unique brotherhood of men."

Books by Robert G. Davis include Understanding Manhood in America and The Mason's Words.